Stokes' England career ends with NZ series defeat

Stokes' England career ends with NZ series defeatTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedFigure caption, 'I think he's had enough' - Is it the right time for Stokes to step away?ByStephan ShemiltCricket Correspondent at Trent BridgePublished29 June 2026, 14:21 BSTCommentsUpdated Just nowThird Rothesay Test, Trent Bridge (day five of five)New Zealand 438 (Conway 157, Latham 151; Stokes 4-70) & 288-9 dec: (Mitchell 100*, Ravindra 94; Archer 4-53)England 354 (Duckett 113, Bethell 74; Smith 4-91) & 212 (Smith 60; Foulkes 3-42)New Zealand won by 160 runs, won series 2-1ScorecardBen Stokes' storied England career ended in a series defeat by New Zealand, who wrapped up the third and deciding Test on the final day in Nottingham.The day after captain Stokes announced this Test would be his last, England's 160-run loss at Trent Bridge - and a 2-1 series reverse - highlighted the mess they now find themselves in.In the aftermath of the Stokes news on Sunday, England slumped to a self-inflicted 103-4 by the close of day four, leaving an inevitability about their chances of chasing 373 on Monday.And any sense of a prolonged fight was extinguished in the fourth over of the day, when Emilio Gay departed and, crucially, Joe Root was run out by an extraordinary direct hit from Henry Nicholls.Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson at least staved off humiliation with a battling stand of 75, ended when Atkinson was out just before lunch.Smith completed only his second half-century in 11 months, but Josh Tongue was the victim of another sublime New Zealand direct hit, this time by Mitchell Santner, before Smith was caught at long-off to leave England 212 all out.It means New Zealand, heavily depleted by injuries, have earned a famous series win, only their fourth in this country.The Black Caps were the last visiting team to win a series here, in 2021, and now they are the first tourists to win a series of...